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Partners now in marriage and in trade, Lady Julia and Nicholas
Brisbane have finally returned from abroad to set up housekeeping in
London. But merging their respective
collections of gadgets, pets, and servants leaves little room for the harried
newlyweds themselves, let alone Brisbane’s private enquiry business.

Among the more unlikely clients: Julia’s very proper brother, Lord
Bellmont, who swears Brisbane to secrecy about his case. Not about to be left out of anything
concerning her beloved – if eccentric – family, spirited Julia soon picks up
the trail of the investigation.

It leads to the exclusive Ghost Club, where the alluring Madame
Seraphine holds evening séances…and not a few powerful gentlemen in
thrall. From this eerie enclave unfolds
a lurid tangle of dark deeds, whose tendrils crush reputations and throttle
trust.

Shocked to find their investigation spun into salacious newspaper headlines,
bristling at the tension it causes between them, the Brisbanes find they must
unite or fall. For Bellmont’s sake – and
more – they’ll face myriad dangers born of dark secrets, the kind men kill to
keep…

My Review: The
latest installment of the Lady Julia series is perhaps the most thrilling
yet. As is the case with all the others,
I had a very hard time putting this one down and read it in a couple of
days. I’m always dying to know what kind
of trouble Julia will get herself into, and what her crazy family will do next!

Now that Julia and Brisbane are married, the romantic tension between
them has dissipated and has been replaced by the professional gap that
currently exists. Julia naturally wants
to be more involved in her husbands work, as it fascinates her and she feels a
sense of purpose while helping investigate along with him. Yet she still has a very competitive nature,
and can’t seem to set that aside when it comes to something potentially
dangerous, a frustration both Brisbane and I share.

This novel started out with what seemed like a pretty simple
investigation, and I was fascinated by how complex it became as the plot
progressed. What seems like a simple “fix
this situation for Bellmont” turns into something quite sinister, and the
entire thing seemed so believable I wouldn’t be surprised to see an actual
historical account of something similar.

Most of our favorite characters are back in this one, including
Portia, Plum, and even a small appearance from Valerius. I am enamored of Julia’s siblings, and
anything involving them makes me happy.
Portia is settling into motherhood, and she’s at a bit of a loss at
times. Plum, who I find quite dashing,
finally manages some romantic interest, and I wish there had been more about it
in there! In fact, as much as I love the
Julia books, it would be awesome if Deanna Raybourn would do some spinoffs with
Julia’s siblings.

The stakes are raised in this one for all our main characters, with
Julia’s “leap before you look” attitude proving more dangerous than they have
in previous novels. She knows just
enough to get into trouble, but isn’t cautious enough to get out of it, which
is as exciting as it always is!

Definitely don't start reading five books in, but if you haven't picked this series up yet, what are you waiting for?